Uncategorized « Straight Talk on Managing Bipolar Disorder

How do I know the difference between teenage behavior and teenage bipolar disorder behavior?

Is it possible for me to know the difference?

It can be difficult, but it’s not impossible.

It’s all about degrees- typical teens and bipolar teens act in similar ways, but not with the same intensity. And bipolar disorder behavior is ALWAYS out of sync with events.

For example, a typical teen who is angry may yell at you and run to their room and slam the door. A teen with bipolar disorder may yell, try to hit you and then run out of the house and not come back for hours.

Another very important distinction- typical teens tend to calm down and go back to ‘normal’ once they have let you know how they feel. Teens with bipolar disorder can stay in certain upsetting moods for much, much longer.

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Letter to a friend about bipolar

A friend and I had a long talk about bipolar last night. He said that he would not get rid of his bipolar disorder if he had the chance. I was shocked by this as the illness has really caused him serious trouble. I know that I would do ANYTHING to get this illness out of my life. Tonight, I started to think more of our conversation. Here is a letter I wrote him:

Hi,

I was just going to write in my journal but decided to write you instead. I’ve kept a journal since 1990! Can you believe that! When Ivan (my ex who has bipolar one) was in the hospital I wrote down everything that happened. I recently went back to read them- as I was thinking of [ Read More ]

Bipolar Disorder and Suicide

Suicidal thoughts are normal when you have bipolar disorder.

I remember driving one day when I was very stressed and unhappy. I was on a busy road and saw a red light up ahead. My mind said, “Julie, you can just run that red light and a car will hit you and all will be taken care of!” These thoughts used to scare me a lot. I now know they’re a response to stress. When I told my friend Lani this story she said, “Well, your brain thought is was helping!”

So true. These thoughts are not real. They are manufactured by a bipolar brain. Don’t believe them.

If you are suicidal right now, you have options other than killing yourself.

#1 Say to yourself: I have bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts are normal. Say it over and over again until you get help.

#2 Call anyone and do anything to get help and be [ Read More ]

Happy Halloween!

No caption needed.

Halloween countdown day five…..

OH NO! IT’s…. BACK! A.D.D Strikes Again

My ADD has simply been OUT OF CONTROL. I haven’t been able to work comfortably for two weeks- this led to the simple conclusion that my Ritalin isn’t working anymore. I increased the dose to 15mg and that is obviously not enough. I will try 20 mg tonight and if that doesn’t work, I will switch to Adderall. ADD is painful. It’s physically uncomfortable- mentally uncomfortable and embarrassing. It makes you feel stupid- as though you could do better if you just tried. I can’t believe I let this go for another week. I assumed it was me- I wrote about my social media OCD on facebook- and it’s all true- but the foundation for this is that my ADD has come back en force.

What to do? I have my techniques from [ Read More ]